The aim is to describe the development of achievement in compulsory school in the Nordic countries from the 1960s. The study relies on published results concerning literacy and numeracy from the international large-scale assessments between 1964 and 2012. Among others, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) for most countries, a small but…

This article aims to revisit the relationship between school-level variables and students' educational opportunities through the lens of institutional habitus. This approach is particularly well suited to explore the notion of school culture because it brings to the forefront the impact of social context, avoiding some of the limitations typically…

World Bank's data indicate 70 per cent of the African population lives in rural areas. Additional evidence made available by the African Development Bank [Africa's own version of the World Bank] suggests 65 per cent of Africa's urban dwellers live in slums. This paper relies on these data to conceptualise Africa's global rurality and issues around…

This report examines the recommended minimum instruction time in full-time compulsory general education in 2016/17 in 42 European education systems. It includes national diagrams illustrating the data by country and by subject. The comparative overview examines the policy changes that have taken place over the last year regarding the recommended…

Increased interest in research in the field of international education, typical for the most of the world, is largely due to trends of interdependence and mutual influence of nation-states in a period of rapid development of the processes of globalization and integration, including in public life and in education. The current stage of the…

Central values promoted in a national curricula are often uncontested (Arnot, Hopman, & Molander, 2007; Colnerud, 2004; Popkewitz, 2009). Therefore, a critical understanding of these values is crucial, as is an understanding of how students are affected by interpretations of certain values as fundamental. The aim of this study is to cast light…

This article takes up the opportunity offered by the United Nations' "Strategic Development Goals" to examine provisions for the selection, recruitment, training and professional development of secondary English teachers in Bangladesh. Qualified and trained teachers are considered as essential to effect the changes in English teaching…

Learning difficulties have been found to dilute the possibilities that young adults have in their educational careers. However, during the last few decades, education has become increasingly important for employment and overall life satisfaction. In the present study, we were interested in the effects of mathematical and reading difficulties and…

Reading, writing and literature, mathematics, natural sciences and foreign languages are recognised as core subjects in all European countries. But how much time do students spend on those subjects at school, and how much does this instruction time vary across countries? This report provides information about the recommended minimum instruction…

This Eurydice report contains more than 30 detailed structural indicators, up-to-date figures, definitions, country notes and a short analysis of recent key policy developments and reforms in five areas: early childhood education and care, achievement in basic skills, early leaving from education and training, higher education and graduate…